DILI, 06 december 2021 (TATOLI)— The Government of Timor-Leste (TL) through the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports (MoEYS) held an inter-ministerial meeting to discuss the literacy program in Timor Leste.
The Minister of Education, Youth and Sports, Armindo Maia informed that around 404,872 (31.93%) Timorese out of a total of 1,268 000 residents were functionally illiterate, according to the data report from UNESCO.
“This means that the 31.93% referred to people who do not have writing and reading skills (functionally illiterate), therefore the Ministry of Education invites relevant partners to provide input to increase individual literacy rates by 2030,”
The literacy program has been implemented since 1974 by two well-known parties in Timor-Leste, ASDT and FRETILIN. However, the program was resumed by the Government of Brazil, the Government of Cuba, UNESCO, and Timor-Leste after independence.
Likewise, the Minister of State Administration (MAE), Miguel de Carvalho, said MAE and MoEYS will work through local authorities across territories in Timor-Leste to support illiteracy data, adding that MoEYS and Partners will support them to eliminate percent illiteracy by the year 2030.
“Law No. 3 of 2017 gives full mandate to MAE and the Ministry of Educationto fulfill the program to eliminate the percentage of illiteracy by increasing the number of people to access on reading and writing activities,” said Carvalho.
The government has prepared $300,000 to implement this program. The budget is used for the recruitment of teachers in villages to implement the program.
Journalist : Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Nelia B
